The Museum of Science and the Cosmos ( es, El Museo de las Ciencias y el Cosmos), is an

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

, and

science museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

located in the city of

San Cristóbal de La Laguna San Cristóbal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna, ) is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands, Spain. The city is the third-most populous ci ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

island, in the Spanish

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

Macaronesia Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of List of islands in the At ...

. It belongs to the

Cabildo de Tenerife Cabildo Insular de Tenerife (Island Council of Tenerife) is the governing body of the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands). It was established on 16 March 1913 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in a session held by the City Council. It was, at that time ...

and the Tenerife Organization of Museums and Centers. The museum opened in 1993 under the initiative of the Cabildo and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). It is considered the primary astronomy and

of the Canary Islands and the Macaronesian archipelago.

History

The building was designed by architects Jordi Garcés and Enric Sòria, with the museum designed by Enric Franch. The museum is in the shape of a half-star, and is located adjacent to the IAC in La Laguna. The creation of the museum was promoted by the

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is an astrophysical research institute located in the Canary Islands, Spain. It was founded in 1975 at the University of La Laguna. It operates two astronomical observatories in the Canary Islands: ...

(led by Ignacio García de la Rosa) and the

. The inauguration on 11 May 1993 was attended by Russian cosmonaut

Sergei Krikalev Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (russian: Сергей Константинович Крикалёв, also transliterated as Sergei Krikalyov; born 27 August 1958) is a Russian mechanical engineer, former cosmonaut and former head of the Yuri Ga ...

, and it was visited by the

Prince of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias ( es, link=no, Príncipe/Princesa de Asturias; ast, Príncipe d'Asturies) is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the monarchy of Spain, throne of Spain. According to the Sp ...

on 6 July 1993. The current museum director is Héctor Socas-Navarro (since 11 April 2019).

Exhibitions

Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos 2018 013

Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos 2018 070

The museum was designed as modern

, focused on science communication through interactivity with the displays. It covers all sciences, with a bias towards astronomy. It has a permanent exhibition that covers such topics as the Earth's rotation, solar activity (including sunspots and flares), orbits around black holes, as well as more general science topics such as the principles of a

lever A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or ''fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, load and effort, the lever is div ...

, how a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

works, and human

organs In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a fu ...

. It also has an astronomy room with models of telescopes such as the

Gran Telescopio Canarias The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GranTeCan or GTC) is a reflecting telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries, Spain. It is the world's largest single-aperture optical telescope. Constr ...

, and the

Teide Observatory Teide Observatory ( es, Observatorio del Teide), IAU code 954, is an astronomical observatory on Mount Teide at , located on Tenerife, Spain. It has been operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias since its inauguration in 1964. It becam ...

and

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory Roque de los Muchachos Observatory ( es, Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, ORM) is an astronomical observatory located in the municipality of Garafía on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The observatory site is operated ...

. It has a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

, with a GOTO GE II projection system to show 2,800 stars, and a Digistar 5 digital projection system, with a variety of shows. The Plaza del Museo (museum plaza) has a radio telescope painted with the coordinates of

Montes Teneriffe Montes Teneriffe is a range on the northern part of the Moon's near side. It was named after Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands.

on the Moon, as well as a small telescope and an

Analemmatic sundial Analemmatic sundials are a type of horizontal sundial that has a vertical gnomon and hour markers positioned in an elliptical pattern. The gnomon is not fixed and must change position daily to accurately indicate time of day. Hence there are no h ...

. It has an auditorium with regular talks, and also offers astronomical nights and camping.

Operation

The museum is operated by

and

Museos de Tenerife Museums of Tenerife ( es, Museos de Tenerife), originally Autonomous Organization of Museums and Centers of Tenerife ( es, Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros de Tenerife), is an organisation in Tenerife. History The organisation was created ...

. The Museo de la Ciencia stop of Line 1 of the

Tenerife Tram Tenerife Tram ( es, Tranvía de Tenerife) is a light rail or tram service located on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands in Spain. It is operated by Metropolitano de Tenerife, a limited company now 100% owned by Cabildo de Tenerife. ...

is immediately outside the museum. It is open between 9am and 8pm on Tuesdays through Saturdays, and 10am to 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and holidays. , general admission costs €5 (reduced to €3 for residents), discounted to €3.50 for students and pensioners (€2 if also resident), with free entry on Fridays and Saturdays between 4pm and 8pm, and on holidays between 1pm and 5pm. The planetarium entrance fee is €1.

References

{{Authority control Science and the Cosmos Science and the Cosmos San Cristóbal de La Laguna Science and the Cosmos Science and the Cosmos Science and the Cosmos 1993 establishments in Spain